IPL matches delay work on Charni road overbridge

What could have led to delay in completing work on raising the height of the Sandhurst Bridge between Charni Road and Grant Road railway stations? The reason: the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches being played at the Wanhkede Stadium, which have disrupted its schedule and delayed it by more than month.

As per the original schedule, the Western Railway (WR) authorities had planned to begin work of raising the height of this road overbridge (ROB) near Opera House by April-end; work on this stretch was to be carried out during night. The ongoing IPL matches being played at Wankhede stadium, however, restricted permission from certain departments. “We didn’t get permissions due to fear that the work might disrupt road traffic, especially with the ongoing IPL matches held in the city,” said a senior WR official.

“We would begin work only May once IPL matches are over.” The last match scheduled at Wankhede is on May 25.

The deadline was crucial for the WR to complete power conversion from the Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC). This ROB was built in 1921 and needs to be raised by few metres to allow conversion from 1,500-volt DC to 25,000-volt AC.

The current height of the ROB is 4.4m from the tracks while the desired height is at least 4.69 metres for allowing the conversion from DC to AC.

Although this delay could affect the schedule, the railway officials are optimistic on finishing the DC-AC conversion on time.

“The work of raising the ROB will take a month to complete. We will complete the power conversion on the Borivli-Churchgate stretch by June,” said S Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR.